The Core and the Means, Part 4

 Unfunded Mandates

Finishing the post yesterday, it was clear that two things had been left out of the previous posts, there was more to say about why men and women are not abiding in the Word.  Secondly, there should have been a suggestion on how one can become more familiar with the Bible.  I created something I detest, unfunded mandates.  I challenged you to do something without suggesting or showing how to do it.  Abysmal failure on my part.

So, other than a pastor or teacher using the Bible as a springboard, what is another reason folks in our churches do not have confidence that they can understand the Word.  Many pastors ignore or misapply Ephesians 4:11 – 16 (Here at Bible Gateway) and Matthew 28:18 – 20 (Here at Bible Gateway).

This happens in at least two ways.  One is to create the detested unfunded mandate.  That is, to exhort one to study the Bible without showing how, equipping.  That is exacerbated when a pastor believes that standing in front of a group of people and telling them what he got out of the Word is equipping.  It is not.  There is no measurement of the effectiveness of the transmission of information.

The misapplication of Matthew 28:18 – 20 is that the directive to teach “ALL (emphasis added) that I commanded you,” is either ignored, severely limited, or else reduced to verbal instruction, again, without measurement.  In no other discipline is one taught without either observation of application of that being taught, or a test of some sort to measure how much of the information was successfully transmitted to the one being “equipped”.  Yet, we will continually have classes in which information on the Bible or the Christian Life is shared without following up in anyway how well that information was received and applied.

Here is an offer.  If you wish to learn how to do Bible study, I will show you how.  If you are near Tulsa, watch the event tab on this blog.  We will soon offer a seminar for men and a separate seminar for women on how to do Bible study.  If you are not near Tulsa, let me know if you are interested and we will figure out how to help using Zoom.

Basic Familiarity with the Bible

Now what is a way to grow in general knowledge of the Bible?  Use a reading plan.  Simple, but takes discipline.  I use M’Cheyne’s Reading Plan.  With that you read through the OT once a year and the NT and Psalms twice in a year.  There is a way to stretch the plan out to two years.  I have been using this since February 2016.  I used other means prior to that.  After looking this over and using it for a time, I find that it has helped me get a better handle on the story arc of the Bible.  Further, it seems like the Lord uses this to deal with the issues I am facing on a regular basis.

Those are the two things I felt were lacking in the previous posts.  That said, there is much more that could be said about both issues.  

If you scan the blog, you may find some more help or if there is something you want help with, tell me in the comments.

The Core and the Means, Part 3

We have been revisiting the reason for this blog.  Two days ago, we reviewed our dependence on and the centrality of the Word of God to both our ministry and leadership.  Yesterday, reviewed that it is the text of the Bible that is our primary source, not the notes in our study Bibles or commentaries.  However, we were left with a challenge.  If we are struggling with a passage, how do we come up with an answer if we are not to drop into the notes or pick up a commentary?  Today we are considering an answer to that significant question.

There are four questions that we continue to ask in Bible study.  These four questions comprise the heart of any good method of study.  They are, in order of application:

1. Observation: What does the text say?
2. Interpretation: What does the text mean?
3. Correlation: What do other parts of the Bible say that help us understand the text?
4. Application: What does the text say that I need to do?

Unfortunately, many times, the questions are taken out of order, skipped, or given short shrift.  The first question is first for a reason.  Much of what we talk about in this blog is how to make more and better observations.  That requires asking a lot of questions of the text.  Most of the Bible study handbooks will instruct you to pepper the text with questions.  What I am attempting with this blog, the means, is to give you a better set of questions.

So, the answer to what to do with the difficult passage is, observe more.  Stick with it.  Pray over it.  Ask the Lord to help you see.  Many times we give up too soon.

John 16:13 – 15 tells us:
13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.
15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore, I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. 

One of the purposes of the Spirit is to guide you into all the truth.  As we know from 2 Timothy 3:16 – 17 (Here at Bible Gateway) and 2 Peter 1:20 – 21 (Here at Bible Gateway), the Spirit inspired the Word of God.  So, the Bible is the only book you will ever read that the author, the Holy Spirit, is tasked and present to help you understand what He wrote.

John Piper has a practice of sharing biographical messages (some of them are here), in 2005 he spoke at a Samford University a the Reformation Heritage Lectures on Martin Luther’s approach to the Bible.  In that message he quoted Luther:

I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what Saint Paul wanted. At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely “in it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live.’” And there I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith.  (Piper, John. “I Beat Importunately Upon Paul: Martin Luther and His Bible.” https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/i-beat-importunately-upon-paul. Accessed August 19, 2023.)

“Importunately” is not a word that turns up much in normal conversation.  Some synonyms are eagerly, earnestly, frantically, vigorously, the idea here is that Luther was not going to let go of the text, he was sticking with it until he understood.  It is a good example to follow.  There is much more in that quote which can guide us as we struggle with a passage; do you see what they are?  If so list them in a comment.

To do this well, we need to have a good set of questions to ask the text.  Further, we need to have a basic familiarity with the Bible.  

I intended to end this topic here, but there are one or two more things I need to say based on reviewing these, so, I will end this topic tomorrow.

 

The Core and the Means, Part 2

 Yesterday, we looked at what drives this blog, the centrality and necessity of diligently engaging in the Word of God.  The bottom line is that all ministry, all leadership, is the overflow of the Word of God from one’s life into the life of another.  We saw how 2 Timothy (Here at Bible Gateway) validated that truth.

But there is more.

John 8:31-32, emphasizes this, here Jesus says:
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly disciples of Mine;
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 

Note that the word translated “continue” in 31 is the same word that is translated “abide” in John 15:1-16 (Here at Bible Gateway) and other places.  The point here is that continuing, abiding in God’s Word is the mark of a true disciple.

A couple of observations about this may be helpful, note that the passage does not say that we are to continue, abide in the notes in our study Bibles.  Nor does it say that we are to continue or abide in books about the Bible or commentaries on the Bible.  While the notes, the books, and the commentaries have their place, that is not where we are to abide.  We are to abide in the text.  The text is inspired, remember yesterday, 2 Timothy 3:16 – 17 (Here at Bible Gateway), the notes and the commentaries are written by men, not inspired.  By definition, the notes and the commentaries will have errors in them.  I have an extensive library.  There are over 5,400 books in my Bible program, Logos.  I have over 2,000 physical books.  I have profited from many of them.  However, they cannot be, and they are not, my primary source.  That has to be the Word of God.

Unfortunately, many believers do not have confidence that they can understand the Bible on their own.  There are several possibilities why this may be true in a believer’s life.  It may be that they have sat under a teacher or a pastor that has used the Bible as a springboard.  That is, the teacher or pastor reads a passage and then springs off that into sharing their own ideas that has little or no connection to what they have just read.  That leaves the one listening puzzled how the teacher or pastor derived what they are sharing out of the passage.  That may result in the listener concluding that they cannot understand the text without the help of the teacher or pastor.  I have experienced teachers, pastors, and Bible study leaders doing this in sermons, Sunday school classes, small group Bible studies, and one on one conversations.  

Just after I became a Christian, I was in a Bible study with several others who were in Undergraduate Pilot Training in the U.S. Air Force.  Several of them had the Scofield Reference Bible.  Many times, during the study, while we were discussing what a passage said, meant, or applied to our lives, one would say something like, “The note in my Bible says...” and that, would pretty much end the discussion.  It communicated that all of us needed that Bible to really understand the Scripture.

At about that same time, I learned something about commentaries.  We had moved on from fill in the blank studies to verse and chapter analysis studies.  Some of those studies I was leading.  At times I would struggle with understanding or applying a passage and would have a question to which I could not figure out and answer.  I had a few general commentaries on the Bible and would turn to those works to get answers.  What I discovered was the commentaries did not address the questions with which I was struggling.

So, what do we do?  If we are not to drop down into the notes in our study Bibles and we should not bounce out of the text into a commentary, how do we answer questions with which we or others in our studies or community are struggling?  John 8:31 – 32, tells us that if we continue, abide, we will know the truth, but if we are struggling, how?  

Great question.  We will look at an answer in tomorrow’s post.

The Core and the Means

It is probable that you already know this, but it may be prudent to remind you of the core of what is presented in this blog.  First, it is my conviction that men are commissioned by the Lord to lead.  They are to lead themselves, their families, and their communities of faith.  Women also are to lead, if married, in submission to their husband, in the same three areas, with the caveat that in their communities of faith they are in submission to their husbands and the leadership, elders, of that local body.  Titus 2:3-5 (Here at Bible Gateway) outlines some of the areas in which women are to lead.

Second, it is impossible for men or women to lead if they are not consistently, engaging in, abiding in, the Word of God.  The clear message of 2 Timothy does not just support this but fairly screams it as us.  

Most of us, if not all, have 2 Timothy 3:16 – 17 memorized:
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Here, the exhortation is focused on leading oneself consider the context 3:10 – 4:4 (Here at Bible Gateway)

What you may not notice is that notion is repeated twice in the letter, in 2:24 – 26 to false teachers and unbelievers:
24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. 

To believers in 2 Timothy 4:1 – 2:
1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
2 proclaim (my translation) the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 

Notice that the four ministries of the Word are repeated in the passages in 2 and 4 using slightly different words:

2:24-26	Teach	Correcting	Repentance	Knowledge of the Truth
3:16 – 17	Teach	Reproof	Correction	Training in righteousness
4:1 – 2	Proclaim	Reprove	Rebuke	Exhort

The Word of God, the Scripture, is central to any ministry.  All ministry, all leading, is the overflow of the Scripture from one life to another.  If one is not in the Word intentionally, consistently, one is not going to be effective in either leading or ministry.

There is a bit more here to consider.  But, I will leave that until tomorrow.

Slow Learner

Since last September some men I have known for about 40 years, and I have been studying 1 Corinthians.  We meet each week online and compare notes.  It is a good time.  There is no pretense.  In the early part of last October, during my quiet time I was reflecting on part of 1 Corinthians 13.  Specifically, verses 5 and 7 (here @ BibleGateway).

The notion that love, “does not seek it’s own,” caught my attention.  It made me think of Philippians 2:3 (here @ BibleGateway).  The idea that we are to “do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than” ourselves, seemed to echo Paul’s thought in 1 Corinthians.  

That thought – the “nothing” – took me to Philippians 4:6 – 7 (here @ BibleGateway), we are to “be anxious for nothing”.

As I pondered these three passages, I concluded that these instructions are impossible for me to do.  I am not sure I have ever had an unselfish thought, if so, it was probably by mistake, in a moment of weakness.  The truth is that in my own strength I can’t.  Without Christ in me, without His strength, without His enabling grace, and without the leading and transformation of the Holy Spirit – there is no way.

I am grateful that He is patient with the process of moving me in these directions.

Up From Low Points

On the morning of September 22, I got an email from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).  I have watched educational programs on line with LLS and with the International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation (IWMF) to learn more about WM which is the Lymphoma I have.

My wife and I got the C19 vaccine as soon as we could, in January and February of 2021, Modera.  I got the booster in August.  The email told me that because I had been getting Rituxan as part of my chemo since May of 2020 that the vaccines would have zero effect on me.  The Rituxan kept my immune system from creating antibodies.  That was the first time I was really down about having the cancer.  It was frustrating.  I knew my immune system was trashed, that was one of the “benefits” of the cancer and the chemo.  But, we were told to get the vaccinations if perhaps they would give some protection.  Now, I had news that it didn’t.  

Another “benefit” of both WM and the treatment was fatigue.  My capacity was greatly diminished.  The Wednesday morning I got the email I had gone to bed about 11:30 Tuesday night and had overslept and woke up at 11:37 that morning.  In my journal I noted that I had only had 4 meetings Tuesday, 5 counting a doctor’s appointment.  Two were zoom, two Bible studies back-to-back, a face-to-face meeting with one of the pastors at our church, and a coffee with one of the small group leaders I serve.  That little bit of effort wiped me out.  

I had been asking for prayer from anyone who asked based on 2 Corinthians 12:9 – 10 that I would be well content and that His power would be perfected in my weakness.  So far…  I began to catalog all that I had lost, grieving, if you will:

• Strength
• Capacity
• Ability to work out
• Being around people
• Travel to help pastors in:
• Togo
• Morocco
• Cameron 
• Ethiopia 
• There was more…

Then I turned to the Word. Psalm 73:25 – 28 (here @ BibleGateway) was on my reading list for the day.  As He has time and time again He brought what I needed before my eyes just when I needed it.  You can read what I read.  What I wrote in my journal was, 

“The thing here is that as my flesh and strength fail, as they are, God is the, literal, rock of my heart.  The LXX (the Greek OT) has ‘The God of my heart’.  The sense would be that He is all I need, the foundation.  The implications of this seem to be that it is He that keeps me going.  He is the foundation – also that prayer becomes that more important.  I can’t travel, I can’t meet, but the Spirit is engaged.”

If and when you are down.  Turn to Him and His Word.

Epilog: Eight days later both my wife and I had Covid.

Joy and Perseverance

You know the story of David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 – 12:15 (here @ BibleGateway)).  There is no need to rehash the particulars here.  Among other things that resulted from this incident was David’s response to Nathan’s rebuke, Psalm 51 (here @ BibleGateway).

I want to focus on Psalm 51:12, 17 (here @ BibleGateway).  It is apparent based on 2 Samuel that David truly repented of his actions.  Is response to Nathan was immediate and complete.  One of the things that David had to face was the death of the child that was a result of his and Bathsheba’s affair.  David humbled himself before the Lord on the child’s behalf.  However, the Lord took the child as He promised David that He would.

David was dealing with real and deep sorrow.  He had sinned against His Lord and he had lost a child that he loved, that loss also would have pained his now wife, Bathsheba, greatly.  He was not in a joyful place in his life and relationship with God.  He could have become bitter and angry with what had transpired, many in his circumstances do.  But he did not.

There was nothing that he could do to restore the joy he had with the Lord.  Look at his request in 51:12 (here @ BibleGateway), “restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me wit a willing spirit…”  David knew that the joy of his salvation, his relationship with God, was not something which he could manufacture, it was a gift, grace if you will.  He knew that he was completely dependent on the Lord for the joy that he knew in their relationship.  Thus, his prayer.  Further, and this raises an interesting question, David then prays to be sustained with a willing spirit.  The question is did he learn that he needed that sustaining because of this failure?

Regardless, what was true for David is for us as well.  We are dependent on Him, completely dependent on Him, both for the joy we have in our relationship with Him as well as our perseverance in a willing spirit to follow Him. 

Perhaps, like David, that reality should inform our prayer.

Staying on the Path

As I have said earlier, I do not accept what I read about the Bible in books by Christian authors or scholars uncritically.  That said, again, I am helped and inspired by some of the things I read.  As I have mentioned before, sometimes during my quiet time, I read through parts of the Valley of Vision.  Some months back I read:

When faith sleeps, my heart becomes an unclean thing, the fount of every loathsome desire, the cage of unclean lust all fluttering to escape, the noxious tree of deadly fruit, the open wayside of earthly tares. Lord, awake faith to put forth its strength until all heaven fills my soul and all impurity is cast out. (VOV, Faith, 288 – 289) 

This prayer recalls Proverbs 4:26 – 27 (here @ BibleGateway), Psalm 119:105 (here @ BibleGateway), and John 15:5 (here @ BibleGateway). 

For me to continue to walk with Him I am both dependent on Him and His Word. Without consistent time with Him in His Word there is no chance that I will be able to stay on the path. It may be obvious, but listening to what others have found in the Word, or reading books about the Word or some aspect of the Christian life, while possibly helpful, does not, is not the same as spending time directly engaged with the text.  It is not what Jesus tells us to do in John 8:31 - 32 (here @ BibleGateway).

Kindness and Truth

In Proverbs 3:3 (here @ BibleGateway) we are told about the importance of kindness and truth.  The combination of truth with kindness is a tough balance.  One is charged to be truthful while at the same time being kind in the process.

Looking at the verse more closely, the word translated “do not let” is imperfect, which suggests the action is still continuing or in process of accomplishment.  In this context it would seem that Solomon is suggesting an ongoing action.  So that we are continually to prevent kindness and truth from leaving us.

How we are to prevent that is described in the next two clauses.  The verb translated “bind” is imperative.  It is a command.  Both are to be bound around our necks.  Similarly, “write” is also an imperative.  Kindness and truth are to be both on our neck and heart.

“Neck” (Hebrew גַּרְגֶּרֶת) only appears 4 times in our Bibles, all in Proverbs 1:9 (here @ BibleGateway), 3:3 (here @ BibleGateway), 22 (here @ BibleGateway), 6:21 (here @ BibleGateway).  One of the lexicons in its definition of גַּרְגֶּרֶת states, “there may be an associative meaning of the throat being close to the center or the inner being or self¹.”   Another, referencing all four of the usages states, “the part of a human or animal that connects the head to the rest of the body².”   Yet another presents ַּגַּרְגֶּרֶת as a synonym for  רֹאשׁ head, נֶפֶשׁ soul, and לֵב heart³. 

“heart” (Hebrew לֵב) in contrast is in our Bibles 593 times.  All the lexicons have some form of defining heart as inner man, mind, will, and heart⁴.  

The parallel use of these terms can be taken as a Hebrew parallelism this emphasizing the need for kindness and truth to persist in the character of the people of God.  And, or, considering the second definition of neck above the connection of the head to the rest of the body; that kindness and truth will inform not only the way we think, our rational selves, but also the core of our being and beliefs, our heart.

I like both.

If one studies 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus as a unit, we notice that Paul immediately calls both men into conflict with false teachers.  However, in 1 Timothy 1:12 – 16 (here @ BibleGateway), Paul shares a bit of his testimony.  He shares that though he was a false teacher, in that he not only denied Christ as the Messiah but also as the Son of God.  He also persecuted the church.  He was one of the people with which he is calling Timothy and Titus into conflict.

Then in 2 Timothy 2:24 – 25 (here @ BibleGateway), Paul echoes Proverbs 3:3 in that we are to approach those who are false teachers, teaching truth, without quarreling, with patience and gentleness.

Think about that, in approaching people that way, the Lord may grant repentance to one who will have an impact like Paul.

  ¹James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

  ²The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017).

  ³David J. A. Clines, ed., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press; Sheffield Phoenix Press, 1993–2011), 374.

  ⁴Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 524.

Purposeful Affliction

Consider 2 Corinthians 4:16 – 18 (here @ BibleGateway).  What do you see there as the purpose for affliction?  Now consider Psalm 119:71 (here @ BibleGateway).  Note the connection, affliction.  On the one hand to draw us to glory, on the other to help us learn His Word.

All that we go through regardless of whether it is illness or persecution is in our lives intentionally.  It is for the purpose of drawing us near to Him.  

In 2 Corinthians 4, the context is that, as weak men, we are given the ministry of reconciliation.  Weak and afflicted, so that people are drawn to Him, not us.

Gifts

We all like getting or giving gifts.  My wife and I have 9 grandchildren with the 10th on the way.  At Christmas, the area around our tree is covered with gifts for them.  It is fun to watch their excitement as they open them.

We read in scripture that God’s gifts are perfect, James 1:17 (here @ Bible Gateway).  In Matthew 7:11 (here @ Bible Gateway) and Luke 11:13 (here @ Bible Gateway) we are reminded that the Father gives good gifts to His children.

In Philippians 4:6 – 7 (here @ Bible Gateway) we are told to not be anxious but rather ask with thanksgiving for what we want.  In Hebrews 12:9 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway) we see the same parallel that we saw in Matthew and Luke above, what the earthly father does compared and contrasted with what our heavenly Father does.  Our heavenly Father works in our lives to cause us to share His holiness.

In Romans 5:1 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway) we are challenged to exalt in our tribulations, knowing that navigating those positively impacts our character and dependence on Him.

There are more passages that come to mind chief among them Psalm 139:3 (here @ Bible Gateway) and Psalm 119: 67, 71, 75, 107 (here @ Bible Gateway).

When we put all this together, perhaps a slightly different view of His gifts emerges.  Nothing comes into our lives without His direction and purpose.  He is intentional in developing us for the work He has for us.  So illness, financial challenges, family challenges, all that we encounter, all of life’s experiences He uses to shape us.  

We pray for healing from illness, for easing of the financial or family challenges, do we make those requests with thanksgiving?  I was challenged praying for one who was close to us for healing from cancer.  I was confronted with the challenge of being thankful for the cancer.  Was that really what the Lord was asking?  As I processed that with the individual, they were struggling with the same issue.

Paul penned much of what we read in the New Testament.  He gives help from his own life on this issue in 2 Corinthians 10:7 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway).  He prayed for relief but came to the realization that the weakness made him dependent on Christ.  He then boasted about his weakness, embracing the power of Christ.

Our family has had lots of “gifts” in the past 4 years.  Personally, I have not consistently thanked the Lord for those struggles.  I have not always exalted in them.  I continue to struggle with what it means and how to live through the power of Christ.  However, I am slowly learning how to be well content with weakness, distress, and difficulties.

Abundant, Overwhelming Grace

On May 12th last year I started chemo for the cancer I have, Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia.  I had no idea how it was going to impact me.  The first infusion was two days, 3 hours on the 12th and 5 hours on the 13th.  

On the evening of the 13th my diaphragm began to spasm.  It was like having hiccups on steroids, which I had both days.  They calmed down by 10 PM but started back up again at 12:30 the morning of the 14th.  They kept me awake until 5 AM.

In my journal the evening of the 14th I recorded a passage that had really encouraged me, 2 Corinthians 12:7 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway).  I was struck yet again by Paul’s attitude.  He was well content with weakness, with insults, with distress, with persecutions, with difficulties, for it made him dependent on Christ.

As mentioned in my last post part of my Quiet time for the past year or so has been to read and reflect on one of the entries in The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions (VOV).  This is what I read the morning of the 15th.

The voyage is long, the waves high, the storms pitiless, but my helm is held steady, thy word secures safe passage, thy grace wafts me on ward, my haven is guaranteed. (VOV, Voyage, page 202 - 203) 

Those words reminded me of what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:7 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway).  However, that is not what was the greatest comfort.  I started reading VOV because of a conversation I had with one of the small group leaders in our church.  He mentioned that the men in his group spent some time looking at it and discussing some of the entries.

Out of curiosity, I got a copy and a few weeks later incorporated it into my time with God.  That was months before May 15, 2020.  Yet the timing of this sentence was perfect.  What stunned me, and I should know better by now, was the Lord using an off hand comment by a Christian brother months before, to supply encouragement to me when I was in need.

Psalm 139 (here @ Bible Gateway) tells us that He knows our path in detail, He encloses us behind and before and lays His hand on us.  He knows what I need before I need it and supplies it just in time.

Further, this morning before I started my time with Him, I prayed that He would meet me and in our time together, He would through His Spirit increase my love for Him.  But this morning nothing really stood out in what I read.  As I am writing this, I am overwhelmed with His love and care for me.  He answered the prayer in His own time.

His grace and kindness are overwhelmingly abundant.

Long Lead Items

I am learning to deal with the effects of the chemo – not very well, yet – thus, the blog is sporadic.  Please pray Ephesians 5:15 – 16 (here @ Bible Gateway) for me.

I worked, while in seminary, and for a time afterwards, in project controls, or management, or scheduling – a combination of all the above.  There were several different types of projects from significant infrastructure projects, to large automated warehouses, to technical development of software.  While all of the projects were different, they all had similar pieces that had to be tracked and managed.

One of the more impactful items in any of those projects were “long lead items”.  These are critical materials or functions that require a significant amount of time to either produce or acquire.  They vary from project to project, but their delay of one day, will delay the project by one day, they are that critical.

In the past several years, it seems like the Lord has identified several “long lead items” in my life.  Things I need that seem to be taking an inordinate amount of time to appropriate into my life.

As we were starting to put together this ministry from scratch, the thing that I kept hearing from the Lord was, “Trust me.”  When I prayed about any issue, whether financial, spiritual, opportunities to serve – whatever, the answer was always the same, “Trust me”.  I found that was easy to write in my journal.  To acknowledge as a direction from the Lord.  It was and is a whole lot harder to actually live.

Shortly thereafter, and currently, there has been another message that is similar.  Isaiah 40:31 (here @ Bible Gateway) tells me that if I wait on Him, He will give me strength.  Paul, echoes this in 2 Corinthians 12:9 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway).  There he reminds me that Christ’s power is perfected in weakness.  So the message was I needed to rest in Him and live and serve out of His strength.  I have no idea.  Again, easy to record in the journal.  I can make observations about the text, even delve into the Greek or Hebrew – but to live it?  I struggle.

This morning the Lord took me on an extended journey through several passages on prayer.  Some of that I will possibly share in a later post.  But the “long lead item” that stood out for me this morning was the admonition in Ephesians 6:18 (here @ Bible Gateway) to “pray at all times in the Spirit.”  Confession, I do not think I know how to pray at anytime in the Spirit.  I pray.  I cling hard to Romans 8:26 – 27 (here @ Bible Gateway).  I do not know what else to do.  From where I am now in this journey, it seems I am completely dependent on His lavish grace to do any of this.  Which aligns very well with what I read in John 15:5 (here @ Bible Gateway).

There seems to be a lot in this journey with which I struggle.  A lot that I seem to understand but do not apply very well.  It is more than amazing that in spite of all that floundering, He loves me, died for me, and is working to perfect me, even when I can’t manage the “long lead items.”

Overcoming the Obstacles – Part 2

Yesterday, I suggested that you invest some time in 1 Peter (here @ Bible Gateway); specifically, 1:3 – 4 (here @ Bible Gateway), it really should have been 3 – 6 (here @ Bible Gateway).  In there you might have found a couple of thoughts about how to overcome the obstacles we face.

Mauri’s comment on the post yesterday was apt.  We face multiple kinds of obstacles.  In the world things like financial issues, health, relationships that sour, people that hate us.  When we add the reality of the spiritual life, we face the certainty of constant and increasing resistance from the enemy of our Lord whose goal is to devour, destroy us.  That resistances increases as we engage in a life that seeks to follow hard after our Lord.

Then as Mauri noted, as we mature, as our understanding of our Lord grows as our time with Him lengthens, we become physically weaker.  It is my belief that is intentional.  Seemingly, 2 Corinthians 12:9 – 10 (here @ Bible Gateway) validates that thought.

There are those who proclaim that if we follow the Lord, the obstacles will be removed.  In fact, some claim that if they are not removed, that we face obstacles such as cancer, financial pressures, etc. it is evidence that we lack faith.

That does not seem to be the message of either Peter or Paul.

Peter, in 1 Peter 1:3 – 6 (here @ Bible Gateway) gives us two things to which we are to hold on tightly as we face “various trials”.  They are and imperishable and undefiled inheritance and a salvation.  Note, however, when the inheritance and the salvation will be revealed.  The inheritance is reserved in heaven and the salvation will be revealed in the last time.  They are not promised to be revealed now, or amid the various trials.

No, in fact they are the anchors of our hope.  They are the means of our perseverance.

In the midst of all of the difficulty we face as believers in a fallen world, with the certainty that we will, if we wish to live godly, will be persecuted, 2 Timothy 3:12 (here @ Bible Gateway), our certain inheritance and our salvation is that to which we cling.

Romans 5:3 – 5 (here @ Bible Gateway) exhorts us to exult in our tribulations, our certain tribulations; Peter shows us how.

Overcoming the Obstacles

First, I did not plan on this break.  It was the result of travel and some changes to my schedule that created obstacles that I did not navigate well.  I share that before we get into this to, well for one reason, to confess that I am struggling on this journey as well.

We are exhorted in Scripture to study, to abide, to practice what we encounter in the Word of God.  The purpose, according to Peter in his second letter chapter 1 verses 3 – 4 (here @ Bible Gateway), is that we can become partakers of the divine nature, to truly know Him.

For the past several years it has been my mission to equip as many of those who were willing to do, at least the first couple of those.  The main problem has been that there are seemingly few who are willing to engage for themselves.  Many would rather feed at the trough of those who would study and then tell them what they found; tell them what to believe.  While that may seem easier, it is not what is imagined as the normal Christian experience.

However, there are those who seem to wish to engage.  Those who do will face resistance in multiple forms.  The enemy does not wish for men to seriously engage in the Word of God, to be equipped to take on the full armor of God, Ephesians 6:10 – 20 (here @ Bible Gateway).

So, what I share here, I do not claim to fully and completely practice.  I strive, weakly.  I am facing the reality that instead of becoming stronger, I am becoming weaker.  I tire more easily than I did.  I read that I can live in His strength, but I don’t seem to be able to do that well or consistently.

All that is a preamble to what was intended to follow the last post.

Which is…

If you would please look for a moment at 1 Peter 1:3 – 9 (here @ Bible Gateway).  This is a small portion of the larger answer that Peter outlines in this letter.  It would be a profitable investment to read the entire epistle.

I will, through God’s strength, share observations on how to overcome in the next post, tomorrow.

Spiritual Obstacle Course

In Paul’s final letter to his protégé Timothy he proclaims that he has fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7 (here @ Bible Gateway)).  Have you known those who have not done so?  Have you known those who have stumbled in their race, fallen and not returned?  I have.

There are other passages that challenge us in this.  1 Corinthians 9:24 – 27 (here @ Bible Gateway), Hebrews 12:1 – 2 (here @ Bible Gateway), and 2 Timothy 2:5 (here @ Bible Gateway) are a few.

We know that the race is such that some do not finish.  In Paul’s circle Demas deserted, he loved the present world more than he loved Christ (2 Timothy 4:10 (here @ Bible Gateway)).  John speaks of those leaving the race, 1 John 2:19 (here @ Bible Gateway).

It is not only in the New Testament that we see this.  A cursory reading of Kings and Chronicles will yield a list of those who started and did not finish well.  Focus for a moment on Genesis 49:15 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Jacob is prophesying over the 12 sons.  Note what he says about Issachar.  He found a resting place that was pleasant, bowed his shoulder to bear the burdens of that place, and became a slave to it.  He chose to rest rather than to fight.

Peter shares a similar warning in 2 Peter 2:19 (here @ Bible Gateway), by what a man is overcome, he is enslaved.  Issachar was overcome by a desire to rest in a pleasant place.  Demas was overcome by a love for the world.

This journey is a long obstacle course.  We continually confront distractions, difficulties, detours, that would take us out or take us off course.  In a competition if we fail to win, fail to finish, there is always the next race.  In this race, this journey, there is not.

What must we do to finish, and finish strong?  We will look at that next time.

Out of Touch

Ever feel abandoned by God?  Ever feel like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling?  You are not alone.  Read Psalm 10:1 (here @ Bible Gateway).

In reaction to this verse I jotted down several passages, Jeremiah 23:23 – 24 (here @ Bible Gateway), Psalm 139:7 (here @ Bible Gateway), and Hebrews 11:6 (here @ Bible Gateway).

This is the dilemma, on the one hand it seems, as the psalmist says, God is nowhere to be found in times of distress or trouble.  On the other hand, He permeates the universe and beyond.  I cannot, we cannot, escape Him and cannot hide from Him.  So what is the deal with the feeling of abandonment?

It may be that it is the Lord’s desire that we learn to trust Him in the midst of the silence.  That we rest in Him when He seems far off.

How?

How do I rest in Him, trust Him, when it seems as if He is not there?  Here the psalmist prays.  He shares with the Lord through prayer the feeling of abandonment.  He codifies and shares with the Lord his doubts and fears.  Perhaps Psalm 73:17 (here @ Bible Gateway) is a partial guide.

It seems that an approach might be:

1. Pray
1. Acknowledge the problem.  Tell God how you feel – all areas, frustrated, angry, hurt, etc.
2. Ask why
2. Remember what the Word says - Here is where passages that we have covered, or the Psalms may be of great benefit
3. Review what He has done for you - Here is where a journal will be of benefit.

There are probably other approaches that will help.  These seem to be what is suggested by the passages we covered.

Let me know what you have found.

No Surprises

As I have studied the Bible for the last 46 years, one thing has come into sharper and sharper focus, God is in control.  We saw that in 1 Peter 1, His foreknowledge is the operating standard which informs all of the instruction Peter gives on suffering.

2017 was a hard year for our family.  We were in the midst of experiencing 5 deaths.  I was reviewing a journal entry I made in July of that year after dealing with some of my Father’s estate.  I was reflecting on Judges 3:1 – 4 (here @ Bible Gateway), take a moment and read those 4 verses.

You will remember that Israel was tasked with removing all the inhabitants of the land the Lord had given them.  Israel did not do so.  There were four groups of people left.  What struck me reading through this was that the text says that the Lord left these nations to test Israel.  Israel didn’t drive them out; the Lord left them.  Ponder that.

Israel was disobedient by not driving those nations out.  God used those nations to test Israel’s obedience and to train them for war.

There are areas in my life where I have been disobedient.  There are areas in which I have failed the Lord.  It is no surprise to Him.  2017 was not a surprise to Him.  He not only knows we fail, knows we have faults, He uses those failures and engages those faults to test, train, and equip us for His purposes.

He is in control.  He is not surprised.

Remember

As we near the end of this year there is another discipline in which we should engage.  Look at Ephesians 2:11 – 12 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Note that the word “remember” is repeated in both verses.  Repetition is one of the literary devices that gives us a clue as to what is important.

It is important that we remember, review, what God has done in our lives.  We tend to forget and forget quickly.  If you have read the Old Testament, you will know that is not a unique or recent problem for those who follow the Lord.

For instance, consider Joshua 24:1 – 13 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Here Joshua reminds Israel what the Lord has done for them.  But then look at Judges 2:7, 10 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway).  In a relatively short time, Israel forgot.  When they forgot, they turned away from God.  That sequence, reminder, remember, forget is repeated over and over not only in Judges but also in 1 and 2 Kings (here @ Bible Gateway) and 1 and 2 Chronicles (here @ Bible Gateway).

It is not a new challenge.

It seems to be something that we need to continually battle.  Other places in this blog I have recommended journaling (in 57 posts, type journal in the search box to the top right of this post or click the tag journal below to see some of those if you wish).  That is a discipline which, if one chooses to engage, helps one to remember what God has done.  In fact, much of this blog begins with a review of my journals.

It does not have to be complicated.  Simply during your quiet time, or some other regular time, jot down the date, record what the Lord is doing.  It may be passages that He has taken you through.  Note those and what you learned.  Or it could be a life event and what you were thinking and learned.  Or it may be a prayer you record.  Some or all.  Do what fits you.

Then on a regular basis, turn back to earlier pages or volumes, and review what the Lord has done.  You will be encouraged.

Dealing with Suffering Biblically – Conclusion

For the past three days we have looked at dealing with suffering from Peter’s perspective in 1 Peter (here @ Bible Gateway).

We have seen that Peter sees what we go through in the Christian life under the umbrellas of both God’s foreknowledge and great mercy.

Further we have seen that the anchor or focus of our lives, in order to persevere in suffering to the glory of God, is the sure inheritance we have in heaven and the salvation for which we are protected.

The main idea here is, contrary to some current teaching, our focus is not to be on our time here, rather it is to be on eternity.  All suffering here is, by definition, temporary.  As we are reminded in James 4:14 (here @ Bible Gateway), our lives, our time on earth is a vapor.  It is critical then that we focus on what we have been promised by the Father through the Son and Holy Spirit, an imperishable inheritance and a certain salvation.

There are other passages that support this understanding of 1 Peter:

• Psalm 139:2 – 5 (here @ Bible Gateway), The Lord knows our thoughts and word before we have or say them, scrutinizes our path (He analyzes our path as closely as a civil engineer would use a nested sieve to analyze aggregate in a concrete mix.), He covers us up behind and before and puts His hand over us (we are protected by His grace).

• James 1:2 – 4 (here @ Bible Gateway), trials, suffering, produces endurance.

• Romans 5:3 – 5 (here @ Bible Gateway), we exult in our tribulations producing perseverance, proven character, and hope.

• Hebrews 11:39 – 40 (here @ Bible Gateway), those in the Faith Hall of Fame did not receive what was promised, because like us, it is in eternity we receive the inheritance and salvation

Further the testimony of the lives of the saints in both the Old and New testaments describe lives that are difficult and yet faith that is focused and informed by trust both in the foreknowledge of God and His great mercy.

It is my hope this series has challenged you to think and encouraged you at the same time.  I would welcome any comments about how you have processed this.